La Chimenea

He had countless names: some knew him as "The Cyclist Club", because on the third floor there was an office of messengers, who sometimes placed their vehicles at the entrance. Others called it simply "Donde Castrito" by its owner, Juan Francisco Castro. But several generations of Las Ultimas Noticias linked the stories of the newspaper and this memorable bowling alley. Castrito came from Melipilla, worked in Santiago in a restaurant, with a brother, half a century ago. When he learned enough, he became independent as a dealer in that old second floor of Morandé, next to the building that then occupied this newspaper. He also had a captive clientele of "El Mercurio", "La Segunda", "La Nación", Correos and the infinity of traveling salesmen who stopped there. Time of printing with types of lead, which turned into factories journalistic workshops. The workers of the foundry had to drink milk, as an antidote for the toxic vapors of the alloy. But they preferred to change it for wine, where Castrito.Time of all night shifts, with a stop sooner or later in that big house without major decorations, where you played chub and dominoes, the menu was bife to the poor or casserole, with inevitable peaches or papayas for dessert, and wine, in red or white. Castrito was called "El Cabeza de Tarro": during the military regime many parishioners were left touch to touch him. And to announce that it was already working, he would take out a garbage can at the door, which was the signal that warned the initiates. Today, the restaurant is called "La Chimenea", in the Prince of Wales passage (in Moneda, between Amunátegui and San Martín). It will celebrate its 50th anniversary in December, in the hands of Jorge Castro, son of Castrito, who decided to rest something now that he turned 81. And although you can still eat plenty of casseroles and chorrillanas, the new restaurant has a cozy second floor, with a colorful bar , and a third Nerudian floor, even with its figurehead. There are very few restaurants with fifty years and for that you have to always renew. Jorge Castro, and his partners, are already thinking about putting a good coffee machine, and promoting coffee consumption instead of old coffee powder. Because gastronomy never stops perfecting itself.

Rodolfo Gambetti (The latest news)